Tooty Trevor
by Princess Rahnee Honey Lizard
Summary: What happened to Tooty after Banjo-Kazooie? Well, she went on a adventure, of course!
1. Where am I?

The castle was great in size and beauty. There were great blue towers and a lovely courtyard filled with beautiful flowers. The camera neared one of the windows. A blonde honey bear was laying on a chaise lounge. She looked pale. As she stirred, the camera switched to first person.

Tooty had a headache. Her whole body felt sore, as if she had been running and jumping for days without end. She opened her eyes. She saw a blue blur as her eyes slowly adjusted. The blue blur turned out to be the biggest blue Jinjo she had ever seen!

"Aieee!"

"Shh. Calm down, dahling honey bear…," the Jinjo said in her Zsa Zsa voice (not that Tooty would know _who_ Zsa Zsa is). "I am Jalinga, Queen of the Plezula Island Jinjos…but call me Jali, dahling."

Tooty realized there was a crowd of Jinjos around the chaise lounge and the Queen's stool because the little creatures let out a gasp in awe of the little honey bear. Not just anyone was allowed to use the Queen's nickname.

"Now, wot ees your name, dahling honey bear?"

"Um…Tooty."

"Ohoho, how dahling! Now tell me, how did you end up all by your lonesome?"

"I was kidnapped by a witch…"

"Oh, you poor dahling…"

"She said she was going to take my youth and beauty for herself, but my brother and sister came to rescue me. Afterwards they took me home, but I heard music and ran outside. I said, 'What are you still doing here? You still need to beat the witch!' After she was gone, me and my friends and family went to the beach. I got to swim in the ocean!

"Later, when everyone was busy, I decided to explore the island. It was so different from Spiral Mountain and the rest of Isle O' Hags…"

Jali's eyes lit up at this point. She knew something about Isle O' Hags, but she did not interrupt the young honey bear.

"When I was walking on the beach, I saw a pretty little island on the horizon. I just had to go there! I found a dock, but the water was far away. A little boat sat in the sand by the dock. I pushed the boat into the water and started across. And then…then...I woke up here…"

"Then you must have taken _another_ swim in the ocean, dahling…"

Tooty looked up at Jali, but the Queen wasn't laughing. She looked quite serious, in fact.

"Dahling, we found you washed up on the beach. You were covered in scratches and bruises, and there was sea salt in your hair…but that _was_ several days ago. You've been asleep this entire time, dahling."

As Tooty let this sink in, she remembered something else.

"Banjo!...my big brother must be worried about me! We were supposed to go on an adventure the day Grunty kidnapped me! Oh!"

Jali puzzled over this as she watched the sad little honey bear sit on the chaise lounge, paws over her face. Jali placed her hand on Tooty's shoulder.

"Will you…do a favor…for me?"

Tooty looked up and took a big sniff. She wanted to repay the Jinjo Queen's kindness.

"What is it?"

"I sense a great strength in you, little honey bear. I want you to go on an…_adventure_…"

"Oh, yes. Yes! YES!" Tooty cried, clapping her paws and bouncing on the chaise lounge. Jali chuckled. "You don't even know what it is I need you do, dahling…," she pointed out, but the Queen could feel, as well as see, the little girl's eagerness.

"Alright."

_Snap!_

Six little Jinjos marched over to Tooty carrying a writing desk and set it down in front of her. It was just the right size for the little honey bear sitting on the chaise lounge.

"Write a letter to your brother, dahling. My own brother Jingaling, who lives in Isle O' Hags, will make sure your brother gets it."

As Tooty took the golden feather quill, dipped it in the inkwell, and began to write, Jali spun on her stool and clapped her hands. All the little Jinjos stood at attention in front of their Queen.

"I want one of you to deliver Tooty's letter to my brother!"

"I will do it, Your Majesty," said a small, grey Jinjo as he made his way to stand before his Queen. "I have family in Jinjo Village anyway." "Very well," Jali said, snapping her fingers again. "Go get his mount ready." Almost all of the Jinjos bowed and left the room. The grey Jinjo stood beside Tooty, waiting patiently.

Tooty folded her letter and placed it into an envelope. After sealing it, she was at a loss as how to address it. Finally, she wrote a simple "Banjo-Kazooie" on it and handed it to the Jinjo.

"Thank you."

"No problem, Miss Tooty. I'm just glad you're awake."

Queen Jali opened the door, and Tooty and the grey Jinjo followed her out. The hallways were as great as the outside of the castle. The Queen chuckled as the bear cub lagged behind, admiring the many paintings. Jali opened the door to the courtyard, and all three trooped outside.

On the lawn were two lines of ten Jinjos. The grey Jinjo walked between them toward what was evidently his mount. The strange creature stood on all fours, using the silver claws on its large wings for support. Its wings were covered in gorgeous, silver feathers while it body was coated with soft gray fur. Oddly enough, it had the head and feet of a Jinjo.

It squawked in greeting as its rider neared. The grey Jinjo leaped onto its furry back and patted its shoulder. It squawked again and took flight, circling the onlookers once before leaving.

"Flitjo."

Tooty looked at the Queen, confused.

"That creature you saw is called a 'Flitjo'. Flitjos are native to my island and just the right size for Jinjos to ride. Now, I'll be guessing you want breakfast, dahling?"

At the thought of food, Tooty's tummy gave a very audible rumble. Jali laughed, "Seems your tummy has answered for you, dahling!"


	2. The Queen's Heartache

Thank you, Pasta Masta. Don't worry; there's going to be a lot more where this came from.

* * *

Jali watched, amused, as Tooty ate up the stacks of Jinjoberry pancakes covered in honey. The honey bear was much hungrier than anyone had realized. When she seemed to be slowing down, Jali snapped her fingers. Tooty looked up, a ring of honey around her mouth. 

A single white Jinjo marched in carrying a red backpack. She set the backpack beside Tooty's plate. "Essentials," Jali explained, "for your trip." The pack issued a loud snore. Tooty looked at Jali; the look on the Queen's face was priceless. Tooty wiped her face before investigating the backpack.

She opened it and saw a blue form snoozing peacefully. The Queen saw the sleeper and immediately dumped him out onto the table amid a flurry of wrappers. He turned out to be a blue bird not unlike Kazooie. He stood up on his silver legs and stretched his silver-tipped wings. "Ah, c'mon, Queenie," he said, "why you gotta be like that?"

Jali clenched her teeth. "Did you…eat all my food?" Tooty asked. "Whatsit to ya?" the bird said. Tooty jumped up and slammed her paws on the table. "I needed that food for my adventure!" she growled. The bird looked at all the empty plates on the table.

"Looks like yeh've eaten enough already, girly!"

Jali watched the bear and bird squabble until something inside her snapped. She raised her hands, magic pouring from her fingers. The bird felt a strange force pulling him toward the backpack. He tried to run, but he got sucked into the backpack anyway.

Tooty felt herself be turned around. Her arms swept back as if she was trying to fly. The backpack flew up her arms and onto her shoulders. She tried to pull it off, but it wouldn't budge. The bird tried to get out of the backpack, but that wasn't working so well either. He could stick his head and feet out, but that was it.

Jali looked on in horror as she realized what she'd done. "Tooty…I'm…so sorry…" she said. The bear and bird gaped at her. "What did you do?" they cried.

"Tooty…Trevor…I accidentally cast a spell on you. You will have to learn to work together before you can work apart."

Tooty turned her head to look at Trevor. He stuck his tongue out of his silver beak and rolled his eyes. Tooty sighed. Kazooie could be annoying, but if Banjo could deal with her, Tooty could deal with this Trevor bird. Hopefully.

"Alright," Tooty told the Queen. Trevor let out a surprised squawk, but when Tooty looked at him again, he made another face. "What is the adventure?" Tooty asked. "What? I'm going on an adventure?" Trevor screeched unhappily. "Oh, right," Jali, losing some of her accent. "My son, Jingobingo, has been kidnapped by the witch, Mingella…" "Let me guess…me and the Tooty-girl have to go rescue your little brat," Trevor groaned.

"Yes, and maybe you'll finally amount to something, you annoying bag of feathers," the Queen hissed, glaring at Trevor. He glared right back. Tooty sighed. "When do we leave?" she asked. "Oh, whenever you want, dahling," Jali said, her accent returning.

Tooty glanced back at her last half-eaten stack of pancakes. She didn't feel like eating anymore. "You ready to go?" Tooty asked Trevor. "As I'll ever be," he answered grumpily. Jalinga led them outside and pointed to a great tower high over the island.

"That's where that awful witch has taken my dahling son," the Queen explained. The tower was actually vaguely beautiful. At least it looked nothing like Gruntilda's. "Alright, Trevor, let's go!" Tooty cried cheerfully, trying to hide the uncertainty she felt inside.

"Like I gotta choice…"

Tooty hitched up her backpack (the spell allowed her that small comfort) and headed in the direction of the tower.


	3. Jobo

Meanwhile, at the tower… 

A green Jinjo paced around a lovely, furnished bedroom. Finally, he tossed his crown at the nearby window. The crown bounced off and spun around on the floor, but the Jinjo's eyes were not on his crown. As he watched, a spiderweb of cracks appeared in the fragile glass of the window. One crack was long enough to ascend and descend into the surrounding window frame.

A knocking finally broke the Jinjo's trance, and he hurriedly replaced his crown and ran over to open the door. A tall, slim woman with green skin stood behind a cage door keeping the Jinjo trapped in his suite.

"Hello, Jingobingo! Used to the castle, you are, I hope…"

The Jinjo shuddered at the sound of his name.

"How can I be, when I haven't been able to get out of the rooms you've given me?"

"Let you out, I will, when come to your senses, you have."

"Well,_Mingella_ is it? Just because we have the same skin color doesn't mean I want to marry you."

"Pretty, I am?"

"I-I suppose, but, look, lady, you just ain't my type!"

"When come to your senses, you have," the witch repeated, turning on her heel. Jingobingo yelled down the hallway after her.

"I'm a teenage prince! I can't come to my senses!"


	4. Getting to Know One Another

Tooty walked along in silence. Trevor was laying quietly in the backpack when he heard a soft, lyrical sound. He popped his head out. Tooty was playing her flute. Trevor let out a braying noise that actually fit nicely with Tooty's playing. 

Trevor brayed again, and the music took on another tone. Tooty began dancing a bit as she played. Trevor's brays were coming out at different pitches like he was singing. Tooty danced and skipped as she played her flute. Trevor accidentally let out a squawk.

The two froze and looked at each other. The adolescent animals burst into giggles. After calming down, Tooty stowed her flute back in her pocket. Trevor leaned over her right shoulder. "You know," he said quietly, "nobody's ever been nice to me before." Tooty was surprised, but she stayed silent. Trevor resumed his previous persona.

"Doncha think it's kinda weird, a bear and bird?"

"Not really. My sister Kazooie is a Breegull, and she always hangs out in my brother Banjo's backpack."

Trevor stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out what she had said. Tooty looked uncomfortable. "Did you say…'Breegull'?" he asked. "Yeah. Aren't _you_ a Breegull?" she replied.

"No! I…am a 'Braygull'! We are much better than those nasty Breegull!...what's so funny?"

Tooty was bent double with laughter. "Look…exactly…alike…," she managed to say between peals of laughter. "We do not!" Trevor cried indignantly. "Braygull are much better looking than Breegull!" Tooty finally got her laughter under control. "Well, prove it," she said. "Banjo and Kazooie rescued me not that long ago. Let's see if you're better than Kazooie at rescuing."

"Fine. I'll take ya up on that."

Trevor held out his right wing, and Tooty gently grasped it with her left paw. It looked slightly awkward, like a person shaking hands with herself. As Tooty walked on toward the tower, Trevor leaned over her right shoulder and rested his wings on her arms. Tooty didn't mind; it actually felt like a hug. Farther down the trail a large wall came into view.

The bear and bird looked up at the gate. "Wow. Howwe gonna get in there?" Trevor asked. The ground began to shake under Tooty's feet. Trevor retreated to the safety of the backpack. As something dug up to the surface, Tooty somersaulted backward and landed some feet away. Trevor popped back out of the backpack, feeling dizzy.

"Get outta here, kids! It's not safe!"

A mole with auburn curls and square glasses sat in a molehill where Tooty had been standing. "Whoa, what's up with Four-eyes?" Trevor asked. "Four-eyes? Why I oughta knock you into next week,_Birdbrain_!" the mole cried. "Excuse my feathered friend," Tooty said. "We've come here to rescue the Jinjo Prince."

"Oh! Is that so?" the mole said, regaining her composure. "The name's Poppy." "I'm Tooty, and this is Trevor," Tooty explained, pointing at her companion. "Poppy?" Trevor asked. "Poppy?!" Poppy's face took on an angry look. "A 'poppy' is a kind of flower," Tooty explained. "Oh, that makes sense, her bein' a girl 'n' all," Trevor replied.

"Do you two know how to fight?" Poppy asked, again regaining her composure. The bear and bird answered at the same time.

"Yes."

"No."

Tooty looked back at Trevor. "I haven't had ta fight before," he admitted. "How can we rescue Jingobingo if you can't fight?" Tooty asked. "Don't worry," Poppy said, laughter shining in her brown eyes. "I can teach you." She pointed out a cave at the foot of a hill the wall cut through.

"Meet me in there, and we'll go over the basics."

Poppy burrowed back underground and disappeared. Tooty walked over to the cave. "I have to crawl through," she said. "It's too small to walk through." Trevor ducked into the backpack. Tooty sighed and looked back at the cave. It was very dark.

"Here goes nothing…"


	5. Poppy's house

Tooty crawled along the tunnel on her hands and knees. After what seemed a long time but was probably no longer than five minutes, Tooty came out into sunlight. As her blue eyes adjusted to the change in light, a strange sight appeared before her. A mass of land shaped oddly like a tower stood in the center of a pond. 

"Trevor…look…"

Trevor popped his head out of the backpack. Surrounding the pond were flowers and trees of all kinds. As Tooty walked around the pond, more things became evident. There was a rocky area with a shallow puddle surrounding some boulders. There was a garden. There were also a number of molehills scattered about.

"Aieee!"

Suddenly Tooty tumbled down into a hole. As she got up, Trevor noticed something. "Is that a house?" he asked. "Who'd have a house underground?" "I suppose it's Poppy's," Tooty replied, looking at the house. "Sometimes Bottles would take me to his house to play with Goggles and Speccy. Their house is underground…"

"Goggles? Speccy?"

Tooty and Trevor looked up. Poppy was standing in the now open doorway. "My sister has kids with those names," she continued, walking out to meet them. She wore a blue jean vest over a white t-shirt, blue jean shorts, and blue sneakers.

"Goggles is an inventive little duck. Speccy…well, Speccy is a lot like his father. Been a while since I've seen them."

"Duck? I thought we were talking about moles here…" Trevor said. "'Duck' can be a term of affection," Tooty explained. Trevor started to say something about ducks not being attractive, but Tooty reached back and held his beak shut. "So…you're Peony's sister," Tooty said, continuing the conversation with Poppy. Trevor tried to jerk away, but Tooty kept a firm grip with her paw.

"Yeah," Poppy said, grinning at the sight before her. She pushed her glasses up on her nose. "It's getting late. You two can stay the night and start your training tomorrow," Poppy offered. Tooty let go of Trevor's beak and turned to see what he thought. The bird stayed stubbornly quiet. Then he made a soft, annoyed bray and ducked back into the backpack.

Tooty sighed. She nodded to Poppy. Poppy held the door open for Tooty as the honey bear walked into the house. Poppy made dinner for herself and her guests. Tooty coaxed Trevor to come out with a little birdseed Poppy had given her. They talked about how the bear and bird had ended up on an adventure together to rescue a Jinjo prince.

"Bit of an irony, ain't it? My brother-in-law taught your brother, and now I get to teach you…"

A little later, Tooty realized she could take off the backpack. Trevor was still stuck inside, though. She set the backpack on the moss-covered rock beside the leaf bed Poppy had given her. Tooty lay down on the bed. "Good night, Trevor," she said with a yawn.

Trevor was taken aback. No one had ever told him that before. He always hung around the castle because he had no where else to go. The Jinjos were always annoyed by him. They would feed him, but…that was the extent of their kindness. "Good night, Tooty," he whispered, not sure if she had heard him or not.


	6. Basic Training

Thanks, Pasta Masta. I've actually got a novel in the works, and I've been told I might be the next JK Rowling. XD

* * *

_Crash! Crash! Crash!_

"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey!"

Tooty sat up and covered her ears against the cacophony of Poppy hitting a pan with a spoon. Trevor cowered as far down in the red backpack as he could. "Rise 'n' shine, duckies! We got a lot of work to do!" Poppy cried. "Just as soon as you stop that!" Tooty complained.

"Well, yelling alone wasn't workin'…," Poppy chuckled. Trevor popped out when he realized Poppy had stopped beating the pan. This had been the first time he had seen all of what Tooty was wearing. Her red t-shirt was embellished with a large yellow star. She also wore purple stirrup pants.

Tooty put on her red backpack and followed Poppy into the kitchen. After breakfast, Tooty and Trevor headed outside. As she started to climb out of the hole, Tooty realized Poppy had disappeared. She looked around and saw a molehill beside the boulders in the puddle.

Tooty skipped over and stood at the base of the molehill. The ground shook, and Tooty backflipped away. Poppy climbed out of the molehill. "If you ever get hurt, you can come by my house, duckies," she said. "Now, if you'll step over here," she continued, pointing to a nearby boulder. "We can begin."

Tooty climbed up onto the boulder. "Now jump," Poppy instructed. "Trevor should help you out." Tooty jumped, but nothing happened. Trevor popped out of the backpack. "What're you doin', Birdbrain," Poppy cried. "Um…I don't what I'm supposed ta do," the Braygull admitted.

"You're a bird, right? Flap your wings! Like this?" Poppy said, resorting to flapping her arms. Trevor still had a blank look on his face. "You mean…you want me to fly?" he asked. "You don't know how ta fly?" the mole cried, her voice becoming shrill. "Well, it's not as simple as ya might think," Trevor squawked.

Poppy fell onto her back with her feet in the air (Yes, I've watched too much anime.). Then she quickly jumped up, regaining her composure. "Tooty, jump across to the next boulder. Trevor, you better help her! You won't be able to save Jingobingo if you don't work together!" their teacher roared.

Tooty leapt of the boulder and covered her eyes. Trevor popped out of the backpack and flapped his wings as hard as he could. He didn't want Tooty to get her feet wet. Tooty opened her eyes as her paws touched smooth, dry rock. Looking back, it was actually kind of…_fun_.

"That is called the 'flutter jump'. Keep practicing, you two," Poppy said, pleasantly. Tooty ran and jumped to the next boulder. Trevor didn't flap so hard this time, and Tooty landed easily on the boulder. They were jumping to the last boulder when Poppy called out to them.

"Okay, now look up…"

Tooty landed on the rock and looked up. Trevor looked up, too, and floating some feet above them was a hollow, silver hexagon. "Is that…an empty honeycomb?" Tooty asked. "Yup, you'll be wanting to get that. Tooty, crouch down. Trevor, she'll need your wings again," the mole said. Tooty crouched down and placed her paws over her head.

"Okay, Tooty, you want to backflip into the air."

Trevor popped out of the backpack as Tooty flipped. The honey bear caught the honeycomb piece before she fell back to Earth. She landed easily, and Trevor popped out again to take a look at the honeycomb.

"That move is called the 'flip-flap jump', duckies. The silver honeycomb is…well, if you collect enough of 'em, something really cool will happen…"

The empty honeycomb piece floated out of Tooty's paws. It paused, and then it spun and shrank into a sparkle. The sparkle flew into the red backpack, startling Trevor.

"Awk!"

"Meet me over there," Poppy instructed, pointing toward the garden. She then dove back underground. In the garden, Tooty learned to do "paw swipe" on some daisies Poppy had called up. With Trevor's help, Tooty bowled over some roses with a rolling attack. Lastly, with Tooty giving him some height, Trevor used "rat-a-tat rap" on some irises that floated above the ground.

The last iris dropped a golden empty honeycomb piece and a honeycomb piece dripping with honey. Tooty immediately ran over and started to eat the honeycomb. She offered some to Trevor. He tasted it, but…he didn't seem that interested in honey. "That honey you're eating has regenerative properties. If you're feeling tired, eat some, and you'll feel better," Poppy explained. "That empty honeycomb behind you? Collect enough and you'll get stronger."

Tooty picked up the empty honeycomb piece. It, too, turned into a sparkle and landed in the red backpack. Trevor ducked inside and looked at the gold and silver sparkles in the corner. They were going to make it hard to sleep.

At the next molehill, Poppy called up a nest of light blue eggs. "You see these eggs? They're ammo," she explained. "What're we going to do?" Trevor asked, looking at the eggs. "Throw 'em?" "Nope. Even better. First, you want to eat them…" Poppy started. Trevor made a gagging sound. Tooty picked up an egg and examined it.

"Can we at least _cook_them first?" Tooty asked. "No! I mean…" Poppy cleared her throat. "_Trevor_ must swallow the eggs whole. They will stay in a special pouch in his stomach until such time as he decides to _shoot_ them at something." "I have…a special pouch…in my _stomach?"_ Trevor swallowed.

"Yeah, They taught us bird anatomy in high school. 'Specially Braygulls and Breegulls," Poppy explained. Trevor shrank so far down in the backpack that the mole could barely see him over Tooty's right shoulder. Tooty turned her head to look at him. Trevor brought his head up to whisper in her ear.

"_She's like a doctor. I'm afraid of doctors!"_

Tooty thought for a moment. "Kazooie knows this move already. You want to be better than Kazooie, right?" she asked. "Totally!" Trevor cried. Tooty tossed the egg she had been holding into the air. Trevor caught it in his beak and swallowed it. Bear and mole watched him for a moment. "Okay, how do I shoot?" he asked. Evidently, the egg was already safely tucked away in his pouch.

"Tooty, you just have to crouch for this one. Trevor, aim for one of these targets," Poppy instructed, targets appearing as she pointed at the wall. "Can you feel where the egg is?" Trevor nodded. "Good," Poppy continued, "Squeeze the pouch. _But carefully_!"

Trevor lay in the backpack, looking out over Tooty's head. He gently contracted his egg pouch. He felt the egg move, but…it was going the wrong way! A smile tugged at the corners of Poppy's mouth as the bottom of the backpack fell away revealing blue and silver tail feathers. She had an even harder time keeping her laughter in check as the egg bounced along the ground.

_Boink! Boink! Boink!_

The eggshell gave out, spilling yolk on the ground. "Was that supposed ta happen?" Trevor asked as he and Tooty turned to Poppy. The mole managed to swallow her laughter. "Yeah, an egg's supposed to come out either way," she answered. "You can use bouncing eggs to set off switches and stuff."

"I wanna try again," Trevor told Tooty. She nodded and ducked again. "Um, I need more eggs," he said. "Oh, right," Tooty said, picking up the nest. After Trevor had eaten all the eggs left in the nest, Tooty faced the wall and crouched again. Trevor carefully squeezed the back of his egg pouch. He grunted, and the egg hit the target.

There were two more targets. Trevor decided to aim for the one on the right. He padded Tooty's right shoulder with a wing. She turned a bit, but she stayed in that crouching position. Trevor raised his head. This target was higher and smaller than the first. The bird grunted again as he shot an egg at the target.

Another bull's-eye. The third and final target was by far the smallest. "We're gonna have to move. We're too close," the bird told Tooty. She stood up and, after carefully aligning herself with the target, ducked again. The target was very high, but Trevor grunted again, and an egg hit the target.

"Okay, moving targets!" Poppy cried. Some floating irises appeared nearby. Trevor shot those, too, and his reward was another gold-colored empty honeycomb piece. Poppy gestured to a patch of trees and tall grass as having the next move. Tooty looked for a molehill, but there was too much grass. The honey bear stumbled upon another hole.

"Man, you're real good at finding these holes," Trevor complained from underneath her. Tooty got to her feet. It was a long way to fall. Even the flipflap jump would not get them out. "Over here!" Poppy exclaimed cheerfully. Tooty turned, and the mole was sitting on her molehill, waiting on them. The new move was called "beak barge". When Tooty was crouched, Trevor lunged at the rocks scattered about the cave.

The third rock contained another gold empty honeycomb. There was a switch underneath the last one. Poppy explained that the bear and bird had to use "beak buster" on it. They tried it out. Tooty jumped and flipped upside-down, and Trevor slammed his beak into the switch. The ground began to shake, and a platform rose up underneath the hole.

Tooty ran over and climbed up onto the platform. She wanted to get out as soon as possible. Topside, Tooty noticed Poppy was already there, waiting by a tree. (That mole sure is fast.) "Know how to climb?" Poppy asked. Tooty was up the tree in two shakes of a lamb's tail. She looked down at Poppy as if saying, _How's_that_ for an answer!_

"Good," the mole said. "Now try this one." The tree Poppy was pointing to stood up above all the rest. Trevor swallowed and ducked into the backpack. Tooty slid down the smaller tree and went over to the larger one. It took her some time, but Tooty made it to the top. A ledge stretched out from the stone wall. An empty honeycomb floated above it, glittering.

"Wait!"

Poppy had seen the honey bear readying herself to leap to the ledge. "That gap's too wide! You need to grab onto the edge!" she instructed. Tooty jumped as far across as possible, Trevor flapping wildly behind her. Tooty grabbed onto the edge with her paws. Her claws sunk into the ledge to help keep her grip.

Tooty pulled herself up, half-kneeling as she caught her breath. She picked up the empty honeycomb piece and looked back down at Poppy. This time, Tooty got a running start. She and Trevor flutter jumped back to the tree. By the time they got to the ground, Poppy was off again.

They met up with her by the water. "Time for swimmin' lessons!" the mole cried. Trevor groaned. "Oh, I love swimming!" Tooty squealed. She ran over to the water and jumped in. She immediately went under and started to paddle around the tower. Something strong pulled her back to the surface.

Tooty turned to find an angry, wet Trevor. "What's the matter?" she asked. "I hate water!" he snapped. "You can't hate water. You're _made_ of water!" Poppy yelled.

"I can't be made of water! I'm mostly solid!"

"Who here has had high school biology?"

Poppy raised her hand in answer to her own question. Trevor sneered at her. "Um, I've only just recently graduated from elementary school," Tooty said. Trevor and Poppy looked at her. They had forgotten her for a moment. "Trevor, we're going to have to swim to get through this, alright?" Tooty asked. Trevor nodded.

Tooty paddled around the tower, careful not to be dragged farther downstream. Something sparkled at the base of the tower. Tooty dove down and, Trevor making long strokes with his wings, picked up another honeycomb piece before returning to the surface. Tooty decided to see what was on top of the tower. She paddled around it, trying to find a way up.

She came to some vines, but they only led up to a small alcove a little ways below the top. Tooty climbed on up. There was a honeycomb piece. Tooty picked it up. The honeycomb piece shrank to a sparkle, but instead of it going into the backpack, the other gold sparkles came out to join together.

The sparkles became a single spark that floated before the bear and bird. The spark let itself be absorbed by Tooty and Trevor. It made fur stand up. It ruffled feathers. It was a new and strange feeling, being stronger. Farther into the alcove was another switch. It was white with a picture of Trevor's crested head on the left and Tooty's head on the right.

Tooty stepped onto the switch, testing it. It sank into the ground, and the tower began to shake. After the quake, Tooty ran outside to see a stairway had come out of the side of the tower. After leaping and climbing up the stairway, Tooty and Trevor came to the summit. A silver Jiggy spun slowly in the center of the zenith.

Tooty saw herself reflected in the Jiggy's surface as she walked over to pick it up. Upon examination, the Jiggy showed part of a picture. As Tooty turned it, the Jiggy showed a different picture. The ground shook slightly, and Poppy came up nearby. "Hey, you got yourselves a Jiggy! How did that get here?" she said. "I guess you're all set! I'll let you in the gate now!"

Poppy grabbed Tooty's paw and pulled the surprised honey bear underground.


	7. Stumbling Into Adventure

Sorry I've been away so long. I've been sick, but no one wants to hear about that. On with the story!

* * *

"Aw, c'mon! It coutinuh been _that_ bad?" 

Tooty lay panting on the ground, the evidently very sturdy backpack keeping her in a reclining position. "Well, let's just say," Tooty huffed, "that you and Bottles…have _very_ different ways of digging…" Poppy laughed at that. "Well, I just find _more_ reasons to stay in this backpack, don't I?" Trevor said, popping his head out.

Tooty stood up and started for the gate. "Now, to get through," she said, but someone grabbed her wrist. "No! You don't want to do that!" Poppy hissed. A long ways off, a camera whirred to life. It spotted the two figures by the gate and zoomed in.

_"If you open the gate, the witch will know, and you won't be able to do whatever it is you came here to do."_

Poppy's voice sounded rather tinny to the camera. _"What did we come here to do again?"_ Trevor piped up. _"Shh!"_ Poppy cried, covering his beak. _"Besides, why do you want to get through when you're already on the _other_ side?"_

It took a moment for Tooty to understand what Poppy had said. She turned and looked at the environment behind her. Unlike the woods on the other side, Tooty now faced a flower-covered hill. Wooden slats lay across the middle, creating a trail of sorts. _"Okay, this is as far as I can take you,"_ Poppy said, looking right and left as if she thought she was being watched.

_"For now, you two are on your own. I'll meet up with you later."_

Tooty nodded while Trevor squawked angrily. Poppy pushed her blue frames up on her nose before diving back into the molehill. Tooty made her way up the hill, using the slats as steps. The camera watched the pair until they were out of sight.

At the top of the hill, a warm breeze ruffled fur and feathers alike. Tooty stopped a moment to smell the breeze. "Hey, over here!" Poppy cried. Tooty and Trevor turned to see the mole sitting on a molehill next to…something big. As she walked toward Poppy, Tooty thought she recognized its setup. A silver platform shaped like a Jiggy sat in front of a puzzle hanging on the wall.

"C'mon, this is the only way you're gonna get anywhere," Poppy said, pointing to the platform. Tooty stepped up onto the platform. Trevor eyed the puzzle like it was going to jump up and throw its pieces at him. "Place your jigsaw piece into the puzzle," the mole instructed. Trevor ducked into the backpack and pulled out the Jiggy. He placed it in Tooty's waiting paws.

The honey bear again examined the silver Jiggy. She turned it this way and that until she figured out how it fit into the puzzle. Tooty held the Jiggy above her head. The puzzle sucked the Jiggy out of her paws. The puzzle piece settled into place. A bright light sealed the puzzle, knocking the three companions off their feet.

When the bright light had vanished, Tooty stepped back onto the platform. The puzzle was complete and now bore a name: Humba's Holler. The picture showed a leather-clad cat sitting next to a pond. "What's a 'holler'?" Trevor hollered, thoroughly demystifying the moment. "Most likely a colloquialism," Poppy said, studying the picture from her angle. "It probably is a bungled form of 'hollow', which, by this painting, I'm guessing means 'valley'. I think it has to do with the fact that the authoress is from the southeastern region of the United States..."

Blue and gray eyes looked from the painting, to Poppy, and back to the painting. Before Trevor could protest, Tooty jumped down to stand by the mole. The picture was different from this angle. Trevor let out a small "Oh.". Now the painting did, indeed, show a valley. Tooty thought it might be a nice place to live.

"Okay, that's enough sightseeing. You two need to get a move on," Poppy instructed. Tooty ran off, but she turned to look at her friend. "Bye, Poppy!" she cried. "See ya later, duckies!" the mole called after them. Then her face contorted into a look of anguish.

"Tooty, no!" Poppy cried. "Tooty!" Trevor shrieked, but it was too late. The honey bear tripped and tumbled pell-mell down the hill. Poppy ran over to look. Tooty was curled up into as tight a ball as she could manage, and Trevor had disappeared. The bear and bird bounced into yet another hole near the base of the hill.

Poppy dived underground and came up next to the hole. A sign hanging beside it said, "Humba's Holler". _Well, better go see if they're all right._ Poppy dived into the soft earth, heading after Tooty and Trevor.


End file.
